Dr. Desmond Ong

Assistant Professor

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Biography

Desmond Ong is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. He has previously served as an Assistant Professor at the National University of Singapore and as a Research Scientist at the Institute of High Performance Computing, A*STAR Singapore. Dr. Ong earned his Ph.D. in Psychology and has a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Stanford University and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Physics from Cornell University, graduating summa cum laude and magna cum laude, respectively. A computational cognitive scientist, his research focuses on affective social cognition, with a particular interest in understanding how emotions influence mental states. Dr. Ong takes an interdisciplinary approach, grounded in cognitive and affective sciences, and employs tools from computer science to conduct his studies. He has authored over 70 publications in top international journals, such as Nature Human Behaviour and Psychological Science, and has presented at leading conferences like NeurIPS and EMNLP. His work has been recognized with awards including the NSF CAREER Award and teaching excellence awards from both the University of Texas and the National University of Singapore.

Research Interests

Experience

Assistant Professor

— Present

University of Texas at Austin • Austin, TX

Teaching and conducting research in psychology and cognitive science.

Assistant Professor

— Present

National University of Singapore •

Conducted research and taught courses in psychology.

Research Scientist

— Present

Institute of High Performance Computing, A*STAR Singapore •

Engaged in research activities in cognitive science.

Awards

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NSF CAREER Award

#

Josh Holahan Department of Psychology Excellence in Teaching Award

#

Faculty Teaching Excellence Award

Courses

Text Analysis/Behavior Data Science Ethics/Data Science/Affective Computing

Requirements for University of Texas at Austin

Master Program
Requirements
GPA Requirement
Required:3
GRE General
TOEFL
Total
Required:79
IELTS
Overall
Required:6.5
Prerequisites
Bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution
Application Checklist
  • Online application
  • Application fee
  • Official transcripts
  • Statement of Purpose
  • Three letters of recommendation
  • CV/Resume
Specialization Notes

General requirements for the Graduate School at UT Austin apply to all programs unless otherwise specified.